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In the working-class district of old Marseille, Rosa is the heart and soul of her community, a nurse and the matriarch of a large and close-knit family. She meets Henri and realizes it is never too late to fulfill her own dreams. And caused the death of eight people. These were two dilapidated buildings in the city center.This tragedy opens the movie; Robert Guédiguian has become the committed director of our times. Like his English peer ,Kenneth Loach,Robert Guédiguian depicts the other side of the mirror ; on the feel-good French scene ,his works are,more than ever ,pivotal ; because they are not exactly what they call 'feel-good" even though there are moments in his work which give the viewer more joy than the trendy hip flicks.his masterworks " The City Is Quiet" " The Snows Of Kilimanjaro" or the neglected "A Story Of Fools" are endearing tales that go straight to the heart :generous, brash, full of compassion .Rosa (the wonderful Arianne Ascaride , Guédiguian's partner in life ,and the principal in most of his films has these lines which are the key to the movie :"when we have two lives :one to take care of ourselves ,and one to take care of our fellow men ".Like many of the director's movies , "and the party goes on!" "the party to the attack" -the scene when she comforted her black colleague, desperate because she didn't hold her patient's hand when he died ,is admirable -,she is also an activist,she has so many tasks on the go at once it becomes impossible to see them through ,and breaks out during the meeting for the list of candidates .Her son has found the woman of her life and he ; intends to have plenty of children ;besides the father of the future bride is also an activist who falls for Rosa ; it may seem melodramatic on paper, but Guédiguian's treatment avoids pathos and dramatization; The young man's love, after escaping a would-be shame, shows him that life can go on, even if not according to his plans . Her daddy (the wonderful Darroussin, Guédiguian's favorite actor,he often played opposite Ascaride), will be the light that still shines in Rosa's darkest night .Together they will fight against the "sleep merchants" ; (sleep dealers) who rent flats unfit for habitation ,in the scene ,around the bust of Homer, where the voices multiply until they become one.The heroine eventually relaxes to the point of acknowledging that the personal is personal ,as well as political; that in turn makes her more endearing and more effective ;the Aznavour classic."emmenez moi" -unlike most of his colleagues , Guédiguian uses the FRENCH songbook – is a transparent metaphor : outside the hard realities of life, happiness is not out of reach.
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